{16feb2012: raow}

Rain + Snow = Raow.
We've been sticking to our goal of at least one hike/snowshoe adventure a month. So when the last weekend of January came up and we still hadn't done anything we HAD to go somewhere. We planned on snowshoeing and as luck would have it, it was a very rainy day. We decided to stick to our plan and headed out. I have to say I love driving (I'd rather drive than be a passenger) but driving when it's pouring buckets is not fun. At one point I thought we were going to get into a huge wreck as a car passing us drove through a huge puddle of water and our windshield was blinded in a blanket of water. So scary.
Luckily we made it to our destination in one piece. It was still raining pretty consistently though so you are going to see iphone pictures and not good camera pictures.
Now Jason is in charge of picking our hiking and snowshoeing spots and this one was another tough one. The majority of it was uphill nonstop.

There was a trail that snowmobilers used and so Darwin and I stuck to walking along that path, while Jason trekked through the trees and blazed his own trail. (Darwin tried it a couple times but she kept sinking down half a foot in the snow and she wasn't enjoying it.) The whole time Jason would walk off though, she'd pace the trail and watch him very carefully.

After an hour or so of walking up hill, we didn't make it to our destination (some view point) and we were soaked. We decided to head back down and end the day as it should be. With a beer (at Snoqualmie Brewery).

{20jan2012: Christmas}

There's been a lot of things going on lately so I apologize for being a bad blogger. In November I went back home to Hawaii to visit my grandma who was diagnosed with stage 4 cancer. On December 28 she passed away, so Jason and I went back to Hawaii last week for her funeral. Right before we left for Hawaii we got big news from work (that's a whole 'nother can of worms) so there has been a lot to deal with. Things hopefully will settle down for a bit.
Since we're so far behind I haven't shared our Christmas!
I'm kind of bummed I didn't get a family picture in front of the tree, oh well... here's one of Darwin though in her new Christmas collar from her brother, Boo.

Darwin had a blast opening all her presents (and she got A LOT).

Some of her presents.

After breakfast and cleaning up the mess we decided to head out and do some snowshoeing!
We went back to Gold Creek since it's fairly close and we were starting out later in the day.
(Sorry iphone pictures from here out)
It was snowing when we got there so it made for very pretty, but wet conditions.






And that was our Christmas!

{01april2011: Trail blazing}

Holy cow it's already April!  Where is the time going?!

Earlier in March we were able to get out snowshoeing again. We headed out East near Hyak, a little further East then where we went last time. Here are some pictures and videos of the day.

funny lip!

As I was resting, Jason went for a climb up a steep part of the mountain.... Darwin thought she'd follow.

About halfway up she realized it was way too steep and turned back around.

As we got higher the trail we were following split in two so I took one path and Jason took the other.  Darwin stuck by me, and after a while wanted to get to Jason.  Instead of going to the end of the path where they connected and running back down, she decided to blaze her own trail. (Click on this long image to get a slide show her her work.)

Here's her trail.

It was a beautiful day to be out and Darwin was nice and pooped when we got home.

{17jan2011: Snowshoeing continue}

Back to our snowshoeing adventure!

Darwin did really well being off leash even when we passed other dogs.  I think she was more excited about being in the snow than seeing other dogs.

I did manage to almost lose my hat (it was hot so I put it in my pocket and it fell out) but some nice people walking behind us pointed it out.  I did lose my lens cap though... not quite sure how.  And we lost Darwin's tags somehow too!  Oops!

After some "off the main trail adventures" (a lot of sliding on our butts and trying to stay upright) we took a little break.  We had an energy bar, while Darwin snacked on an apple.

We all had a blast and are planning our next snowshoe adventure.

{14jan2010: snowshoeing}

***Before we get to snowshoeing, I've got a question for you all. Darwin has a split ear tip (don't know if another dog nicked it or it just split from shaking her head so violently).  I took her to the vet yesterday (more on that in another post) and got a topical medicine for it. The thing is because she keeps shaking her head the split keeps opening up and bleeding everywhere.  I've been trying to tape/wrap her ears so they can stay still and heal, but all the methods I've tried have slid off.  I've tried gauze bandage strip, a bandana, and and ace bandage, but they all slip to the back of her head.  The vet tech said we could use a tube sock to tie her ears down, but I assume that will just slide off as well.  I'm going to run to the drug store at lunch and get liquid bandage and maybe a wider ace bandage... but I was wondering if anyone had tips on how to secure her ears down.  Thanks so much!!!

Now, onto snowshoeing!

Jason and I got snoewshoes for each other for Christmas and we finally broke them in the other weekend.  We received a book about snowshoeing locations in Washington and found the Lower Gold Creek Basin just east of Snoqualmie Pass.

View Larger Map

When we got there the lower part of the trail was full of families and kids sledding.  Darwin was super pumped to get out of the car and into the snow.  After passing the most crowded area we strapped on our snowshoes and proceeded up the mountain.  

There were quite a few other snowshoeing families that had their dogs along with them so we waited til we passed the more crowded spots and were further up before we let Dar off. 

The forest road we were walking on was pretty groomed so the snowshoes weren't really necessary, so Jason thought we should really get into it by going off the road and onto the soft powder.  Darwin was quick to follow him, but a little too quick as she kept stepping on the back of his snowshoes.

She'd try to run back over to me, but sink in the snow.

Of course all that off the beaten path romping resulted in a bunch of scrapes on Darwin's legs.  She left a blood trail again, though not as bad as on our Twin Falls hike.

So many pictures... this post will be continued!